Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now
Veronica wants you along for a science outing, and confused in you along the way Cast * Veronica McShell * Nadia Al Hanaki * Owen Landis Plot Some Samples To Look At Veronica is not very complimentary about Abel's temporary leader. The mission today almost wouldn't have happened if Ian had his way, but a letter from Sigrid set things straight. There's science to do! Going Into Battenbury On the way to your destination Veronica explains why she decided to go with Sigrid, even though she's not really loyal to her. You're headed somewhere Sigrid has expressly forbidden; back to Battenbury. Actually, Only Four Nadia checks in to make sure you're both still alive, and tries to persuade Veronica she doesn't have to shoulder her burdens alone. Veronica disagrees. You do need help avoiding some really gross zoms though. Got To Be Quick Zombies evaded, Nadia and Veronica swap tales about your lord and master Ian. Suddenly Veronica has a flash of inspiration - head to where the sentient zombies are coming from. The Building's Coming In! Owen arrives in the comms shack as you're passing some especially gross zombies. Veronica explains why they, and the virus, are not gross but fascinating. Observations will have to wait as the building you're in is collapsing! Got The Answer Now the building's come down the basement level is accessible, and Veronica can see what she's looking for; the room where Sigrid used to put people so they'd become S-type zoms. Part Of The Cure Inside the room you scrape off as much of the white stuff growing on the walls as you can, before the building collapses. Won't Forget This The stuff you've collected is a fungus, one which also grew in the caves at the White Fingers. Veronica's certain this is at least part of the cure for the zombie virus. She requests that no-one mention this to Sigrid. Veronica wants to make a cure for everyone, not just Sigrid's chosen few. S05E17 // Rofflenet Discussion regarding this mission can be found on Rofflenet Transcript VERONICA MCSHELL: Runner Five, over here! Um… there. Was that all right? I’m never really sure about hugs. How long are you supposed to press for? How do you know when to stop? Anyway, it’s nice to see you, Runner Five. I’ve missed you. I’m glad you’re here now. Ian Golightly didn’t want to let you come out on this run today because you could still be one of them, but I’ve got a letter of permission from Sigrid, so he can’t stop me. He’s a very stupid person, Runner Five. I think he might be the most stupid person I’ve ever met. Not stupid in the usual way, like not understanding maths or something. Ian’s stupid right down in the center of himself. All he does all day long is tell stories about what other people are like. And if they do something that makes his story seem wrong, he’d rather herd the people and force them to fit in with his idea than change the story. It’s not good science. Anyway, we’re all right. He does whatever Sigrid tells him, because his story about her is that she’s the most important person in Britain. So come on, we’re going on a science expedition. There are some samples I want to look at when I get back, so we have to hurry. Run! VERONICA MCSHELL: I know you’re loyal to Sigrid now, Runner Five. At least, that’s what she’s told me. I suppose I should tell you: I don’t think I am. Not really. She’s helped me a lot with my work, and my work is very important, you have to believe that. Sigrid’s helped me contact some scientists in different parts of the world, but none of them have got as far as I have in analyzing the zombie virus. I wish they had. I hoped when we talked that they’d have important things to tell me. I hoped I wasn’t the one who was furthest ahead, because I know how much further I have to go. I think I know more about that virus than anyone else in the world. That made me certain that I had made the right choice. I could have come with you, and Sam, and Janine, and… I could have come with you and… Doctor Myers. But then I would have been in the woods, or sleeping in a cave, or wherever. Eventually, I’d have come in like you, and then I’d have had to win Sigrid’s trust all over again. I might have been chained up like Doctor Lobatse, or pushed around like Cameo. It would have been a stupid waste of time. The most important thing is that I carry on working on this. We can shoot all the zombies we like, but unless I work out how to make a vaccine, statistically, they will defeat us. I’ve done the models. We’re over the tipping point. So, that’s what I’m loyal to: the work, solving it. I think I can do it, I really do. My dad used to say this thing. “Scientists go where the grant money is.” I think he meant it as an insult, but it’s just true. Anyway, I thought I’d tell you that. I don’t think Sigrid’s idea of loyalty means much anyway. Everyone’s loyal to themselves, really. But if you are loyal to her, you should probably turn back now. We’re going somewhere she told me never to go: that town where a semi-sentient zombie captured me, you remember. It’s full of poison gas, and radioactive, and there are mutated zoms, and it’s all blown to pieces. We’re going to Battenbury. Come on. NADIA AL HANAKI: Veronica, Runner Five, are you there? VERONICA MCSHELL: We’re receiving you, Nadia. I don’t know what was wrong with the transmitters before. NADIA AL HANAKI: What was wrong with them was that you turned them off so that you could have a little private chat with Five, wasn’t it? VERONICA MCSHELL: Yes. You turn your microphone off when you want to talk to Owen. NADIA AL HANAKI: I suppose I do. Well, don’t turn them off now. You’ll be entering Battenbury in sixty seconds. Have you got your rebreathers? VERONICA MCSHELL: Yes, Runner Five and I are wearing them. We know the air is poisoned. NADIA AL HANAKI: And yet that doesn’t stop you wanting to go for a run in there. You really are a very special person. VERONICA MCSHELL: Yes. Five, help me over this perimeter fence. NADIA AL HANAKI: And are you going to tell me what you’re looking for this time? VERONICA MCSHELL: No, I don’t think so. If we don’t find it, I don’t want anyone to know I thought it might be here. NADIA AL HANAKI: You can’t carry all this by yourself, Ronnie. VERONICA MCSHELL: I don’t know who else is going to do it for me. Runner Five, you see the rough shape of the city? It’s been a bit blown to pieces, but that’s where the old tower was, where I was taken prisoner. That’s where the theater was, remember? And I think over in that direction is that building that Steve Sissay took a lot of trouble to blow up when we were here last. I want to see if we can find it. Let’s go into the city. NADIA AL HANAKI: And watch out, guys. You’re in the territory of some very unpleasant zombies. Yeah, see, that’s what I mean. A zombie with half a wall instead of an arm, a foot instead of a face, and a bubonic plague on that foot. Oh, and it’s saying something. Ugh. I mean, at least six different things need to have gone wrong for that to happen! VERONICA MCSHELL: Oh, no. Actually, only four! I can explain it to you. NADIA AL HANAKI: Don’t you dare! Head to your three o'clock. Run! NADIA AL HANAKI: Okay, you’ve lost that zombie for now. Or it dissolved into a puddle, or turned into a wall. I couldn’t quite tell. VERONICA MCSHELL: Ooh, if we have time later, we should see if we can pick up some samples. NADIA AL HANAKI: You know we have a strict agreement about what age you have to be before you can pick up samples from zombies with bubonic plague. VERONICA MCSHELL: I remember. NADIA AL HANAKI: And what’s the agreement? VERONICA MCSHELL: Not until I am never. NADIA AL HANAKI: That’s right. Okay. So, you’re looking for a building that’s been completely blown up, in a city that’s been bombed by the Air Force. That’s the thing about you, Ronnie. Always so lacking in ambition. That’s what I tell Ian every time he wants to have those chats with me about what you’re up to. Totally amateurish, I tell him. Bit thick, too. Nothing going on in the old noggin. VERONICA MCSHELL: Is that really what you tell him? NADIA AL HANAKI: This is that thing we’ve talked about, Ronnie, where I say something that’s completely absurd to make you laugh. sighs You used to laugh more. VERONICA MCSHELL: Did Ian call you in for one of those conversations this morning? NADIA AL HANAKI: Regular as clockwork. VERONICA MCSHELL: Is he still nice to you? NADIA AL HANAKI: I wouldn’t say nice, but he knows he can’t hurt me, which is more than we can say for some of the others. Oh my God, did you hear he put Cameo back into solitary last night for giving him an “insubordinatory look”? All she ever does is give everyone insubordinatory looks! VERONICA MCSHELL: What’s happened to her? NADIA AL HANAKI: Kytan begged Ian to let her out. He’s relented, as long as she reads out something he’s written for her at mess hall tonight. I think it starts, “I’m an effectless wannabe hipster.” VERONICA MCSHELL: That doesn’t sound like something she’d enjoy. NADIA AL HANAKI: No, not really. Okay, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but how are you planning to look for that building that doesn’t exist anymore? VERONICA MCSHELL: Actually, I’ve been thinking. NADIA AL HANAKI: What, you? Thinking up something clever? But you never do that. VERONICA MCSHELL: This is that thing again, isn’t it? NADIA AL HANAKI: Yeah. VERONICA MCSHELL: Okay, it is quite funny. But really, I’ve been thinking. Five, you and I should head west. NADIA AL HANAKI: What, back toward that semi-sentient zombie? I don’t think that’s wise. There are a few others on cams. VERONICA MCSHELL: That’s good, actually. Well, not good. But it fits with a theory I have. Nadia, can you work out which direction those zoms are coming from? I think that’ll give us a clue. Come on, Five. We’ve got to be quick. opens OWEN LANDIS: Hey, Nadia, how’s it hanging? laughs Oh! Oh God, what’s that on the screen? That’s gross! Oh, oh sorry, Veronica. Sorry, I didn’t mean you. Obviously, I didn’t… sorry. NADIA AL HANAKI: It’s alright, Owen. Veronica knows you didn’t mean her. How’s it going at the dwarf barley mines, babe? OWEN LANDIS: Ah, you know. Same old, same old. “Come up with new hybrid fertilizers, Owen. Look at how to use zombies in composting processes, Owen. Remember that if you ever manage to escape, we’ll shoot Nadia, Owen.” Jobs, eh? Tell us about your gross zombies, Ronnie. VERONICA MCSHELL: They’re not gross, they’re fascinating. Look at them! So many different mutations, but each one seems to have some spark to it, a little bit of sentience. That would suggest that the brain hasn’t been completely destroyed, as with a normal zombie. OWEN LANDIS: So, what’s the story there, Ronnie? VERONICA MCSHELL: The zombie virus is very complicated. It’s made of two parts grafted onto a third infectious agent, and has mutated very rapidly. I’ve been trying to alter its DNA to see if I can produce an attenuated version of the virus we could use as a vaccine. sighs All I’ve done so far is to produce zombies that dissolve in puddles, zombies that lick other zombies - they’re quite disgusting - zombies that lick themselves, zombies that aren’t infectious, zombies that are double infectious, zombies that can get infected with the flu! - that made a mess. Nothing usable. OWEN LANDIS: So you want to come back here to see if there are any clues about zombie behavior. VERONICA MCSHELL: No, I think I understand quite well how these mutations have happened. The only thing I don’t know is why these zombies can still talk and think a tiny bit. And I have a theory. I just want to watch these zoms for a while. That should give me a clue. NADIA AL HANAKI: Well, don’t watch them from there! Five, Ronnie, the roof on that building is coming in. Run! VERONICA MCSHELL: Oh, Five, look! OWEN LANDIS: Ugh, ugh! It looks like once, when I lifted up a stone on our farm, and there was a whole mess of maggots under there. They were all crawling out of the ground, all slimy and squelchy, and… VERONICA MCSHELL: And talking. All of the zombies crawling out of that hole where the building just collapsed into the basement level – they’re all semi-sentient zombies! I think that’s the place. And if the basement level’s just been revealed, we might find some. I think I can even see it! NADIA AL HANAKI: Some of what? VERONICA MCSHELL: This is very important. Runner Five, Nadia, Owen, can I trust you? NADIA AL HANAKI: Always. OWEN LANDIS: We know you’re the only one keeping us safe, Ronnie. VERONICA MCSHELL: Okay. You know I saw something in the caves under the white fingers? I haven’t told anyone what it was. I told Sigrid that mysteries had been revealed to me that would need to be shared at the right time. OWEN LANDIS: Oh yeah, she loves all that rubbish! VERONICA MCSHELL: Now she has that key card you found, Five, we’re close to getting into the labs under Abel again. She sent all those safe-cracker people home and has a computer plugged in under there, brute forcing the locks. We’ll be in within a few days. NADIA AL HANAKI: Oh, really? I didn’t know that. VERONICA MCSHELL: We will! It’s very exciting. There’s a lot of data under there I haven’t had access to about the Viking zombie virus. But there’s one thing I want to understand. Sigrid’s told me all she knows about making semi-sentient zombies, the S-types, like the one who looked like you, Five. She didn’t know very much. All she really knew was that there was one building in Battenbury where she could put a person for a few days, and then when she took them out, if they got bitten, they would be an S-type zombie. She didn’t know why it worked. She used it to make that zombie that was trained to steal the baby, the Greenshoot zombie. But I think I know why it worked. OWEN LANDIS: Well, don’t keep us in suspense! VERONICA MCSHELL: I need to make sure. Runner Five, if I distract these zombies, can you run into that building where they came from? There’s something growing on the wall in there. If it’s what I think it is, I’ve got my answer. NADIA AL HANAKI: You’ll have to be quick. That building’s coming down. NADIA AL HANAKI: That’s it, Five! Some of that white stuff, whatever that is. Just scrape it into a jar and get out of there. Ugh! What is that stuff, Ronnie? Is it dangerous? OWEN LANDIS: Is it more dangerous than being chased by squelching zombies around a poisoned city? VERONICA MCSHELL: I don’t think it’s dangerous, no. I think it might be part of the cure. Please, Runner Five, bring it to me as quickly as you can. NADIA AL HANAKI: All right. I think you’re safe for now. The rest of that building’s caved in. VERONICA MCSHELL: It’s all right. The fungus will keep growing underground. When I need more, I’ll be able to get it. NADIA AL HANAKI: The fungus? VERONICA MCSHELL: Show me what you found, Runner Five? Yes, that’s the one! This same fungus was growing all over the walls and the ceilings of the caves under the white fingers too, you know. OWEN LANDIS: Nadia was in surgery when you were there, Ronnie. VERONICA MCSHELL: Oh. Oh, yes. Sorry, um… do you remember what Doctor Dee said, that he found the secret in the books of Mary the Jewess? NADIA AL HANAKI: Vaguely. VERONICA MCSHELL: He knew about the original zombie virus, and he knew how to cure it. He says that he found the secret in the books of Mary the Jewess. Not the writings, the books. Sigrid got hold of those books a few years ago, and she kept the books in that building. OWEN LANDIS: Uh, you’re going to have to join a few more dots for us there, Ronnie. VERONICA MCSHELL: I got the idea when I saw the murals in the white fingers cave. Don’t you see? The books of Mary the Jewess were infected with the spores of this fungus! They got into the air ducts of the building. They bred in the walls. The people who spent time in this building inhaled them. Don’t you see? NADIA AL HANAKI: It’s the spores of the fungus that makes people into S-type zombies. VERONICA MCSHELL: Yes! Even with our new strain of the virus, the fungus still gives partial protection. But why? Why? And what’s the connection with the blue flowers and the black British pika? OWEN LANDIS: The what now? VERONICA MCSHELL: It’s an organism. A complex, symbiotic organism. The fungus must provide partial immunity to some elements of the virus. It preserves brain function. That’s why they turn into S-types. NADIA AL HANAKI: This sounds big. VERONICA MCSHELL: Now we’ve found the fungus here, I’m certain that’s what happened. NADIA AL HANAKI: Well, that’s good. You have a clue toward the vaccine, now. The vaccine that Sigrid’s planning to use just for her own people, leaving the rest of us to die. VERONICA MCSHELL: Yes, I’ve been thinking about that. I have enough samples to work with, but um… maybe we could not tell Sigrid we found this here, that you came with me? NADIA AL HANAKI: You know I’d never tell Sigrid anything you didn’t want me to. OWEN LANDIS: Nor me! VERONICA MCSHELL: It’s just, I don’t want to make that vaccine only for her people. I want to make it for everyone. She can’t know I’ve got this far. My life’s in your hands. I won’t forget this.Category:Mission Category:Season Five